A portable ordering terminal is used in a supermarket or convenience store as an ordering apparatus to support a commodity ordering service. The ordering terminal comprises: a first input device configured to input a commodity identifier (for example, a barcode) for specifying an ordered commodity; and a second input device configured to input an order quantity; and a communication unit configured to send commodity order data. Moreover, the commodity identifier input by the first input device is associated with the order quantity by the first second device to generate commodity order data, which is then sent to an external server through the communication unit.
In the use of such an ordering apparatus, as a commodity identifier and an order quantity should be input for each ordered commodity, commodity identifiers and order quantities are alternatively and repeatedly input when a variety of kinds of commodities are ordered, which is cumbersome to the operator. Moreover, an error order quantity input occurs occasionally in inputting an order quantity for each kind of commodity.